Stocks fell during early trading today as news of Citigroup's plans to eliminate 53,000 positions was revealed. The struggling bank also said that it would cut expenses by 20% after posting four straight quarters of losses. Citigroup's stock was down 3.5% in morning trading, and has this year lost nearly two-thirds of its value.

The Dow Jones Industrial average also fell this morning nearly 2%, or 163 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell 1.8%, or 15 points, and the Nasdaq was down 1.5% or 22 points.

Retailers continued to report dismal earnings today. Target was up 2.6% after posting a 24% drop in third quarter profits that beat analyst expectations. Lowe's said third quarter profits fell 24% and lowered their fourth quarter expectations, but its stock was up 2.3% this morning.

Investors are keeping an eye on a $25 billion emergency bill being proposed by Democrats to help the ailing auto industry. President Bush and Republican congressman have opposed the legislation because it would use funds from the $700 billion financial bailout program created by Congress for the US banking system. General Motors and Ford were up 7 and 2 percent respectively this morning.

Globally, the markets were mixed today. The FTSE in London was down 1.3%, and Paris' CAC40 was down 1.8%. Japan's Nikkei closed up slight, .71%, even after the government said the country had officially fallen into a recession.